America's past time

About half the folks I come across hate baseball.

A few years ago, I attended an Arizona Diamondbacks game in their outstanding ballpark. I don't even remember who they played. It didn't matter. A sweet ballpark and a ballgame are unbeatable.

My German friend hated it. B-O-R-I-N-G! I just smiled.

As we approach the homestretch for the 2008 season, my Twins cannot get around the Chicago White Sox. A Sox fan will cry that they can't shake the tenacious Twins off their tail. Touche. If you take a look at the standings, after 136 games, the Twins have won a mere 16 more games than they have lost! The best teams in all of baseball, after 130+ games, have won 30 more than they lost, but that means they lose more than once every three times they play.

Defeat is part of baseball. It's a significant part of baseball especially when you consider the best hitters make an out two out of every three times they come to the plate. They fail 66% of the time!

Herein lies one of the beauties of the game. It's a long season. One hundred and sixty-two games. Hundreds of at bats. Lots of failure. How do you handle that failure? Who will get that one extra hit that powers his team to win that one extra game that at the end of September will kick them into the playoffs.

You may go 0-for-24. Your team might be in the heart of a seven-game losing streak within a fifteen-game roadtrip. But that next game, that next hit might make all the difference.

Do we quit? Do we throw in the towel?

Naw. Get on the bus, get on the plane because we get to go to another park. By God's good grace, I've got another chance to get in the batter's box and take my swings.

Maybe this time...

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(A point of note: To emphasize how "slightly better than average" can equal success in baseball, the Arizona D-backs are on top of their division with a whopping three (3) more wins than they have losses out of 135 games. Who wants it bad enough?)